Chrysalis

I’m so .... So hungry!

Perched here on the roof of the cavern, my claws dug into the cold rock there is only one thought in my mind.

Food!

All the delicious things I was able to eat in my previous life are spinning through my mind, chocolate, cake, steaks, bread, yes even bread! I haven’t eaten anything for two days now, the hunger is making my mind play tricks on me. The last time I saw a Croca-beast I swore it looked like a cow and nearly leaped at it from the ceiling!

The centipedes are looking and more like a tangle of noodles. I have to solve this situation before I get myself killed chomping on something I shouldn’t.

Two days. I have been planning for two. Whole. Days.

I have studied every aspect of this end of the cavern in excruciating detail. I’ve spent so long hanging upside down over the water basin that I nearly feel asleep and dropped into the water. That would be a swim I wouldn’t enjoy...

A welcome side effect of spending all my time this way has been my sneak has levelled up to four! Thanks to spending my downtime digging away at my hiding place my digging has also reached level three.

Mua HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I prepare, I grow, I hunger!

Sigh.

I know, these skills are pretty much useless, ok? I know. I’ll take anything I get at this stage. Hopefully, soon I’ll be able to conquer my first prey.

My antennae twitch suddenly. The target is close, I can smell them. Concentrating hard I try to focus my eyes, I’m currently positioned away from pool in a very dark area of the cavern, the snaking light veins along the walls are far apart here, allowing deep shadows to exist.

My chosen prey has been using the wall on this side of the cavern as a resting place, crawling down to the floor and over to the pool once each day to drink.

a predictable movement path that I think I can defeat. So rare! This

Wait, I see it!

I haven’t been able to see clearly enough to identify exactly where so I couldn’t tell when

stealthy I scramble towards the

worry stomach! I won’t

fairly slowly, especially on the vertical

armour lizard directly below me now, facing away from my position. The large spines protruding from its back look so solid, as if made of stone.

thinking negative now, my stomach is

hunter, the eagle, the tiger! I have to wait for my moment to strike, the timing will

Now!

flash I flip my body around, take aim and fire my acid spray directly at the target. The liquid falls through the air at tremendous speed, splashing against

practice over the last few days

its legs, it tries to turn and find the attacker but I’m already moving, racing down the wall behind

the wrong battle ground for you Lizard! You want to battle

want to face me?

first hunt! I cannot fail here or my life may be over, I have to focus. The Lizard is bracing itself for the close

Didn’t expect that

wall hard I furiously scrabble my six legs to reorient myself for the fight as the Lizard growls and hisses as acid continues to burn at its feet and now face.

here on the wall, the Lizard trying to thrust forward with its fangs or spines before retreating and me snapping with my mandibles, trying to latch onto a leg or the

air, bouncing off the rock walls and pillars of stone, shaking the air against my antennae. I’ve seen more than one fight over the last few days settled by new challengers entering as the original combatants grew weary. I can’t allow this to drag

I can see the Lizard before me is beginning to breathe heavily, the energy required to support its body here

lowering my body closer to the wall. To grip at this sort of angle takes all the strength my tiny claws can muster but it

Chance!

open and snap, crunching them closed on the head of my foe. It

Lizard, you

I gather my strength, prepare my heart and

the wall as I sail over its head, scaly feet tipped with claws scrabble and scrape at the stone but